Chiefs defensive backs coach Dave Merritt has been arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery.
The Kansas City Star reports that an Overland Park, Kansas, police officer arrested Merritt at about 8:50 p.m. Wednesday and he was booked into the Johnson County jail at about 10:25 p.m. No bond has been set.
On Thursday morning, the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office filed a complaint accusing Merritt of “unlawfully, knowingly, or recklessly” causing bodily harm to a daughter, according to the report.
Merritt is due in court today.
The 54-year-old Merritt has been the Chiefs’ defensive backs coach since 2019. He has previously held NFL coaching jobs with the Cardinals, Giants and Jets, and spent time as a college assistant coach. He was a 1993 seventh-round pick of the Dolphins and had a brief NFL playing career before going into coaching.
The Chiefs said they are aware of the arrest and have no comment. Merritt will likely be put on leave and the NFL will begin an investigation into a potential violation of the league’s personal conduct policy.
Chiefs Clips
The Chiefs will be honoring their former linebacker Derrick Johnson during the 2026 season.
The team announced on Thursday that Johnson will be inducted into the franchise’s Hall of Fame this fall. He will be the 55th individual inducted into the group.
Johnson joined the Chiefs as the 15th overall pick of the 2005 draft and he spent the next 13 seasons in Kansas City. Johnson appeared in 182 regular season games and six playoff contests over that time and wrapped up his career with one season as a Raider.
Johnson was a first-team All-Pro in 2011 and he was selected to four Pro Bowls. He finished his Chiefs career with 1,154 tackles, 27.5 sacks, 14 interceptions, four interception returns for touchdowns, 23 forced fumbles and eight fumble recoveries.
Justin Fields doesn’t know whether he’ll get a chance to start games for the Chiefs or not this season, but the quarterback sees upside to being in Kansas City either way.
Fields was acquired in a trade with the Jets last month to give the Chiefs an experienced option as Patrick Mahomes makes his way back from a torn ACL. It’s unclear if Mahomes will be ready for Week 1, but Fields said on Tuesday that he is excited about “a new start, the tradition here, the culture here” as well as the chance to learn from his new teammate and head coach Andy Reid while filling any role on the roster.
“Just the winning, to be honest,” Fields said, via Nate Taylor of ESPN.com. “We of course knew of each other, but we really didn’t communicate before coming here. I’m excited to learn from [Mahomes]. I’m already kind of picking his brain a little bit and just observing how he goes about things in the meeting rooms, field and stuff like that. I’m excited, of course, to work with Coach Reid and [offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy] and all the guys on offense.”
Fields hasn’t done much winning over the course of his NFL career, so that would be a different experience even if it comes on the bench rather than the field. It would also mark a quick turnaround for a Chiefs team that finds itself in the unusual position of coming off of a losing season.
Chiefs wide receiver Nikko Remigio signed his exclusive rights tender on Monday, according to the NFL’s transactions report.
Remigio, 26, signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2023, and he played games for the team the past two seasons. He has seen action on 70 offensive snaps and 147 on special teams in 19 games, with one start.
He has totaled four touches for 80 yards and 40 kickoff returns for a 25.9-yard average.
Remigio played 14 games last season.
As the Chiefs get their offseason program started, quarterback Patrick Mahomes remains on the mend from his torn ACL.
Head coach Andy Reid said on Monday that Mahomes continues to make progress in his recovery, but the team is going to be cautious.
“He goes to meetings, he can lift, do all of that, rehab,” Reid said, via transcript from the team. “That’s the phase he is in right now, so we will just see — play it by ear and see where he is at.
“He’s doing great, but we just have to be smart with this thing.”
At the league meeting, Reid noted that the Chiefs will defer to the medical experts when it comes to Mahomes’ timeline after he suffered the season-ending knee injury in December. There’s a chance Mahomes could be ready for the start of the season — or even training camp — but Kansas City has been careful not to put out a public timeline.
The Chiefs are bringing back their punter for 2026.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the club is re-signing Matt Araiza to a one-year deal.
Araiza, 25, has been Kansas City’s punter for the last two seasons. He averaged 47.6 yards per punt last season, maintaining the role for all 17 games.
In 2024, Araiza averaged 48.8 yards per punt with 25 of his 62 punts downed inside the 20-yard line.
The World Cup is coming soon. And it’s quickly becoming a pain in the posterior for the 13 teams playing in stadiums that will be commandeered for intercontinental soccer.
Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal recently reviewed some of the practical impacts of FIFA bigfooting the various venues where fútbol will be played. This week, for example, the Jets and Giants will move their annual draft parties away from MetLife Stadium to Manhattan.
In all, 13 teams are impacted by the World Cup: the Cowboys, Jets, Giants, Falcons, Chiefs, Texans, 49ers, Chargers, Rams, Eagles, Seahawks, Patriots, and Dolphins.
For the teams that have employees at the stadiums hosting World Cup games, many will be moved. Those who are staying put will be subject to FIFA credentialing to get into their workplaces. And the Giants will start training camp in West Virginia, since MetLife Stadium will be hosting the final match on July 19 on a grass field that will need to be removed and replaced with one of the worst artificial surfaces in the entire league.
That last part still has to be the most galling for NFL players. Owners with stadiums that don’t have grass have bent over backwards to do whatever had to be done to placate FIFA. Their regular employees, however, will still be stuck with a lesser (and far cheaper) playing surface.
The various sacrifices involuntarily made by the players and other team employees should prompt FIFA to give them all a phony, made-up award. Especially since FIFA has already done that, for far less.
In 2025, every NFL team entered the draft with its first-round pick still in place. This year is a whole lot different.
The 2026 NFL draft now has six teams with two first-round picks and six teams with no first-round picks, after the Bengals traded their first-round pick to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence.
Of the teams with two first-round picks, the Giants are in the best position to make significant additions to their roster, as both their picks are in the Top 10: Their own first-round pick is No. 5 overall and the Bengals’ first-round pick is No. 10 overall.
The Dolphins have their own pick (No. 11) as well as the Broncos’ pick (No. 30) from the Jaylen Waddle trade.
The Jets have their own pick (No. 2) and the Colts’ pick (No. 16) from the Sauce Gardner trade.
The Cowboys have their own pick (No. 12) and the Packers’ pick (No. 20) from the Micah Parsons trade.
The Chiefs have their own pick (No. 9) and the Rams’ pick (No. 29) from the Trent McDuffie trade.
The Browns have their own pick (No. 6) and the Jaguars’ pick (No. 24) from the draft-day trade a year ago that allowed the Jaguars to move up to draft Travis Hunter.
A seventh team was poised to get a second first-round pick when the Raiders agreed to trade Maxx Crosby to the Ravens, but that trade fell through and the Ravens kept their first-round pick.
Six teams don’t have a first-round pick: The Bengals, Broncos, Falcons, Colts, Packers and Jaguars.
All of the teams with two first-round picks missed the playoffs this year. They’re looking to rebuild their rosters, and hoping they’ll look back in a few years and say having two first-round picks was a big part of turning their teams around.
Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach has the No. 9, No. 29 and No. 40 overall picks in the 2026 NFL draft, and he’s keeping a close eye on the offensive line prospects who might be available to him at those three picks.
Specifically, Veach thinks that by No. 40, he might not be able to draft an offensive lineman he likes.
“I think you’re gonna get a massive run of offensive linemen from 10 to 25,” Veach said. “Offensive line, there’s some talent there, but I do think it dries up quickly, and by 35, it could be slim pickings. . . . Maybe it extends to pick 35 or 40.”
Most observers agree that the top offensive line prospect, Miami tackle Francis Mauigoa, will be off the board within the Top 10 picks. Other likely first-round offensive linemen include Utah’s Spencer Fano, Georgia’s Monroe Freeling, Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor, Penn State’s Olaivavega Ioane, Clemson’s Blake Miller and Texas A&M’s Chase Bisontis.
That’s among the group of players Veach is likely looking at, potentially at No. 9, hoping one falls to No. 29, and doubting one falls to No. 40.
The NFL has announced the names of the current and former players that will take part in next week’s draft by announcing second-round picks.
The list includes players associated with all 32 teams, including Cardinals running back James Conner. Conner has strong ties to the Pittsburgh area after playing for the Steelers and attending Pitt, which likely made him an easy choice as the Cardinals’ representative.
Former Bears tackle Jimbo Covert, former Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett, former Chiefs defensive lineman Bill Maas, current Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill, former Jets running back Curtis Martin, and former 49ers punter Andy Lee are other Pitt alums who are set to take part.
The hometown team will be represented by four players. Former Steelers Jerome Bettis and John Stallworth will be joined by Joey Porter Sr. and Jr. next Friday.
The other players taking part and their team affiliations appear below:
Falcons: Michael Turner
Ravens: Mark Ingram
Bills: Shane Conlan
Panthers: Jake Delhomme
Bengals: Ken Anderson
Browns: Phil Dawson
Cowboys: Drew Pearson
Broncos: T.J. Ward
Lions: Calvin Johnson
Packers: John Kuhn
Texans: Billy Miller
Colts: Pat McAfee
Jaguars: Paul Posluszny
Raiders: Matt Millen
Chargers: Shawne Merriman
Rams: Tavon Austin
Dolphins: Dwight Stephenson
Patriots: Deion Branch
Saints: Marques Colston
Giants: Osi Umenyiora
Eagles: Brian Westbrook
Seahawks: Cliff Avril
Buccaneers: Ronde Barber
Titans: Jeffery Simmons
Commanders: Mark Rypien
